Some people take years to write their books.

How awful, right? Why is this happening?

Some people claim it’s time, but for the most part, it’s either lack of clarity in their message or how to publish, or it’s a lack of belief that the book is ready (which is actually a lack of confidence in their own words).

I had to go there.

We blame a lot of things for our lack of reaching goals, but fear or uncertainty about the correct steps are usually what lead to “I don’t have time.”

So if you’re sitting on a manuscript that is “done” but you “need to make a few more tweaks”  . . . for a few more years, it’s time to ask yourself if you are actually ready for an editor and to finally get that puppy out the door.

How do you know if you’re ready? Make sure you fit the below requirements.

1. You have told the whole story. I get questions all the time about the right number of chapters or the right number of words or pages or whatever. There is a ballpark number you want to hit (not below 20,000 words for a self-help type book), but in all honesty, you want to tell the full story. I’ve seen beautifully crafted, interesting, informative books that are just under that word count. They are impactful and quick-to-read, which might be perfect for your audience. Don’t fill with fluff if you don’t hit that word count. Look at what else you could add to add value to the book, and make sure you have answered all your readers’ potential questions.
2. You’ve actually read what you wrote. Especially if you’ve followed the “write drunk, edit sober” rule, make sure you have read your book in its entirety before you hand it to your editor. You will catch a lot of really obvious things like missing words and sentences that don’t make sense and leave the bigger stuff to your editor to clean and polish. Remember that an editor does more than just insert commas and put their stamp of approval on a text. They also massage message sentences, make sure you don’t have ambiguity, and pull out anything inappropriate either for your audience or for sensitivity reasons (like if you make a comment about old people or something about gender or race that could be misinterpreted). Your editor is there to make sure that you are putting out the best book your possibly can, and cleaning up the little stuff that you can spot easily means that they can step up a level with their cleaning and really make a fantastic book!
3. You’re happy with everything you’ve written. Don’t pass a book to the editor and then keep adding in sections or deciding not to include things. It needs to be done. You won’t get a good edit on the full text unless you stop picking at it while the editor is working their magic. If you’re at a restaurant, you don’t call the server over ten minutes after you ordered  because you “changed your mind” about the dish and decide on the chicken marsala instead of the chicken alfredo and then after that ask for a house salad to add on, even though everyone else already had their salads. You pick something and stick with it. When people find themselves picking at the text after they sent it to the editor, it’s usually because they aren’t confident with what they wrote. Just stop. Your editor will tell you what to change. Give yourself (and the editor) a break. Your part is done, and now it’s their turn.

Absolutely take your time on your book if that’s what is needed, but don’t sit around poking at a text that is done. Find a good editor (contact me if you are a speaker or coach writing a book that needs editing), and embrace the next step. Get published, and finally become an author!